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Boat carrying hundreds of asylum seekers sinks near Java

George RobertsUpdated
Wed 24 Jul 2013, 1:55 PM AEST

Now to those reports that a vessel believed to be carrying around 200 asylum-seekers has sunk south-west of the Indonesian island of Java. Indonesia is co-ordinating a search and rescue operation and it's understood at least three people have died.

Transcript

SCOTT BEVAN: Now to reports that a vessel believed to be carrying a couple of hundred asylum seekers has sunk south-west of the Indonesian island of Java.

Indonesia is co-ordinating a search and rescue operation. It's understood at least three people have died.

I spoke with the ABC's Indonesia correspondent, George Roberts, a short time ago.

George, what more do we know at this stage about the sinking and the numbers involved?

GEORGE ROBERTS: Well, at this stage we know that more than 160 people have been found alive and at least three people have died, including a small girl.

We understand that the people on board the boat were from Iran, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and Iraq, but we're not sure of the makeup of the numbers or of which countries they're from - just that those are the nationalities we're being told my authorities here.

And there could have been up to 200 people on board that boat, which would mean that there are still quite a few people still missing at sea.

SCOTT BEVAN: What's involved in the rescue operation?

GEORGE ROBERTS: So far, it's mainly been local fisherman who've been rescuing people; they were the first to respond and get the initial people out of the water. Then, after that, local authorities then started heading to the location.

But, as reports are coming in of survivors, the authorities are still hours away; we don't know if they've reached the location yet, but they've certainly been underway. The fisherman have handed the survivors over to local police who've taken them to a couple of community centres where they're being held at the moment.

SCOTT BEVAN: George, the boats keep leaving. What does that say, or what do asylum seekers say about the Rudd Government's changed asylum policy.

GEORGE ROBERTS: Certainly some of them say that the new policy, the prospect of ending up in Papua New Guinea, has discouraged them from getting on boats, but it certainly hasn't affected everyone.

People we've spoken to this week have said they still have no option; they face lengthy waits here in Indonesia just to get processed. Eighty per cent of the registered asylum seekers and refugees here are still waiting for their claims to be processed by the UNHCR - a backlog of more than 8,000 people with a very understaffed and under-resources office dealing with them.

Certain people have told us that they really have no choice, that they have to get on a boat because they can't go back to Afghanistan or Pakistan or Iraq and really they might be better off in Papua New Guinea.

The rumours are also circling that maybe the policy will be cancelled; maybe it won't go ahead. So that's really what's possibly driving people to still try and get on a boat to go to Australia.

What it certainly seems to indicate is that the policy announcement hasn't yet stopped boats as is evidenced by this latest tragedy.